In very complicated wind farms blades and sometimes other components are carried by helicopters – an expensive solution, to be used only as “last option”.
What I’ve discovered today is that a balloon was used by CL CargoLifter to carry the blades in a small scale test made for Nordex at the former airport of Neuhardenberg using a 9 meters balloon on December 2007.
CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co. KG is company founded by former Cargolifter AG shareholders – Cargolifter AGfiled for bankruptcy in 2002, trying to develop an “Air Crane” to carry bulk load flying.
The balloon was filled with almost 300 cubic meters of hydrogen in nearly 90 minutes, and clinged at a winch. After the test, the balloon was quickly deflated, in only 5 minutes.
According to their study, a 40 meters diameter balloon is needed to lift a mounded rotor with 3 blades.
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